Fiery White! The Bachelor” Takumi Bando: “I was a hunter and gatherer in the U.S.”
I have lived alone in Tokyo since I was 10 years old. My older brother left home for college, my older sister went to Boston, and my mother lived in Osaka.
Takumi Bando (45), with his low-pitched voice familiar from hosting the “Bachelor Bachelorette” series, said matter-of-factly, “It’s just the way things are at home.
I had my living expenses paid by bank transfer, but I lived in a new residential area and there were no ATMs near my house. We had to ride our bicycles over mountains and through valleys to get to the bank, but even if we had our cash cards, they wouldn’t let our children withdraw their money. If an elementary school student did that, they would probably think he or she was a passive child (laughs). (laugh) Once a month or so, my parents would come home on a whim and give me some cash, or I would manage to get some coins out of the piggy bank we had at home. But elementary school was still good because we had school lunches, but when you go up to junior high school, you have to eat lunch at a convenience store the day before, right? I had no choice but to buy a bento at a convenience store the day before and bring it with me. I worked part-time jobs, such as delivering newspapers, with the help of acquaintances. I used to fall ill during gym class because of hunger.
The father of one of my friends took care of me. He entered the Nihon University College of Art because his friend’s father gave him exposure to the arts, including theater and film.
He fed me once in a while and acted as a surrogate parent. I called him ‘oyasan,’ Kip’s way of saying ‘father. But after I entered NICHIGEI, Oyasan asked me, ‘What are you going to study at a university to do art? You’re going to live your life on the rails! He said to me, “What are you going to do in college if you are going to do art? Those words really stuck with me. …… It was true that I couldn’t find anything to study at university, so I left for the U.S. right after graduation.
When he was in college, he saw the play “The Fantasticks” off-Broadway and was overwhelmed by the energy of the play . I was so overwhelmed by the energy of the play “The Fantasticks” when I was in college that ” after seeing it, I just let myself go,” he said.
I came to the U.S. under the guise of studying abroad, but after six months had passed, I found myself completely absorbed in the Japanese community in New York. I was asking myself, ‘What the hell am I doing here? I went to see a dance performance by a woman I was dating at the time. I was so shocked that I dropped the glass I was holding. I was so shocked that I dropped my glass. I couldn’t stand still, so I left my apartment and went on a trip.
His girlfriend, who was supposed to go with him, returned to Japan on the day of his departure, but Bando left regardless. He bought a used Chevrolet and drove 160,000 km in a year and a half. He made three round trips on Route 66, which crosses the continent.
He slept in his car six days a week and stayed in motels the other day. One time, while staying in my car in the wilderness, I was surrounded by countless glowing red coyote eyes. As I was breathing in a cold sweat, a man came up to me and said, ‘Follow me. He was a Native American living in a trailer house. The next morning, after treating me to breakfast, he said, ‘Let’s go,’ and took me hunting and mining. …… I spent less than six months with him from there. From him I learned for the first time how to make things from scratch using things found in nature.
After I left him, my journey continued. In the northern part of the U.S., bears come out before hibernation in the fall. One day, I saw a bear in the distance, and when I went over a hill to get a closer look, I saw it up close. I was five meters away. If it hadn’t been for the rangers who heard the alarm and rushed to the scene, I would have died. The ranger told me, “Keep eye contact with the bear and move back! I managed to escape while almost falling off my back.
